Refund Possible?

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Hi there!

I have been struggling along with the a+ essentials for over 2 years after paying over £3,000 to Advent Training for IT training to include MCSE etc further down the line. But I feel it's time to put my hands up and give in and move on to something else.

Does anyone know if I'm likely to get any of my £3,000 back from Advent, after all I only received a very small amount of the training I paid them for.

Thanks,

Mark,

 

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If you have passed the cooling of period which is probably very likely then no you wont get anything back.

Please beaware that this isn't a legal assistance forum and is a place for advice on what to study if you have a grievance against a company you are best of going to your local citizens advice or solicitor.

 

Step 1: Ask advent.

 

Hi Mark,

Welcome to Certforums.

The purpose of our close knit community is to help one another with IT related issues (including certification) so it's a shame you didn't find us sooner.

What parts have you been stuck on? Did the £3000 include support?

As far as a refund is concerned, the best people to ask is Advent, although there may be other students of advent on here.

Boyce

 

Wait, someone paid £3000 in order to get training for CompTIA A+

A ridiculous price considering how simple CompTIA exams typically are. Self study would have been much cheaper.

 

I think he has paid for MCSE awell.

Although not many people are aware that you can book the exams and study without a TP

 

As said above :

Check with Advent

In the event of any dispute go to Citizen's Advice for legal help.

If you're choosing a new career, perhaps try to research it and any qualifications thoroughly in advance so you don't get caught out again.

 

Hey Shini...

Although i totally agree about £3k being a huge amount to pay, go easy on the poor guy!

Your very impressive list of passes tells me you're conversant with IT. Someone just starting out, especially someone newly redundant, will look for the quickest and easiest route to certification. If you have time on your hands (redundant, shift work, tramp) then you watch tv and read the press. Exactly where i saw the NITLC adverts and VERY NEARLY signed up until I found this site and realised you COULD self study!

Don't forget what a hocus-pocus, magical world IT appears to be from the outside looking in. Then when you do get in, its just so GD easy..... (joking!!!)

Hands up who passes their motor vehicle on to the garage and just pays the bill? £100 for a service? £300 for a gearbox/clutch change. What about the mechanics who giggle and do self maintenance for a fraction of the cost?? - point being, we'll pay what we think the reward deserves. UNTIL we are shown alternatives...

No digs at anyone - just relief that I "found the light" myself and perhaps sympathy for someone who didn't.

Good luck Mark - perhaps it's worth persevering with, in light of the cost to you?

SK

 

simonkn: In no way am I an 'IT god', but I do hope the £3000 brings more than just an A+ certification.

The way I see it, is that A+ is an entry level cert for which you can get adequate experience by working at a mom and pop style PC repair shop while reading a £50 book on the side for the "theory". Self study or not, it does pay (as you so rightly said) to do a little research before hand (and thus save considerable cash on the side if you do self study).

Maybe I'm wrong and maybe that £3000 gives you access to multiple computers, multiple types of CPU, RAM, HDD's and other things that help you better understand the requirements for passing an A+, because after all, if you want to have all that gear at home, it will cost you considerably more than this. But I digress...

 

The detail included in the original post said that the costs included MCSE, so this is pretty much a given. It's more than likely to be a progressional course covering from the A+ to MCSE relevant exams.

Shinigami, your first post was quite blunt, hence Simon's response. Retrospective suggestions with a side of mocking aren't exactly helpful to the original poster.

Nonetheless, the other advice suggested is of use, namely - read the contract you signed and contact the CAB if you need further clarification (re - legal ties etc)

Qs

 

My bad, the screen formatting left out the word "MCSE" right off the screen and I failed to see this (multi screen setup with the browser window split between two screens... my eyes just failed to process that bit of text for whatever reason).

It makes more sense now, and my tone of voice was not meant to mock the OP, I just originally found it unbelievable to pay this much for an A+ considering over here it is a lot cheaper (and yet this country is often considerably more expensive when it comes to these things... such as £2000 ITIL courses or a £3000 VCP4 class).

I would think some clause exists to protect Advent in the event that someone is not able to sufficiently attend (for whatever reason) the classes they signed up for (although a medical note or some other leave of absense which is justified via legal means, may be able to help in recouping costs).

 

Hi Markcarolynn

Why don't you contact Advent and carry on studying. You comment 'But I feel it's time to put my hands up and give in and move on to something else'

You have paid your £3000, there is no point giving in now.

Contact Advent, explain to them your situation and set yourself a personal target of completeing the course.

The A+ essentials should only take a couple of months, so I would love too know how much studying you have been doing over the last couple of years.

You can't blame Advent when you haven't put the effort in yourself.

Sorry to be blunt!!!

TP

 

I have been studying A+ essentials for many hours a week since I sold my business in march. Yet I seem unable to retain the information sufficiently to perform on these multiple choice questions to get anywhere near the 75% needed to pass A+ essentials and move on.

More often than not I hover between 50-60%.

I consider myself to be a relatively intelligent person, having achieved a 2:1 BA Hons in Business Studies, and whilst I understand the information I am reading, the sheer volume of it is impossible to keep in my head unless I am truly competent in all areas of computing which I am not - having only been inside one once at one of these Advent Training Workshops.

Having been told that this exam could be passed in 6 weeks with serious study, I have been doing so seriously for 6 months and seem no nearer achieving a pass.

Thanks for those of you who have passed on kind words regarding the money I have paid, and yes this has been for further study assuming I would pass this qualification.

 

What sort of training materials have you been supplied with? Do you have books or computer based training software? What kind of support have you been given from the training provider? It may be worth just going into a bookshop and checking through some other A+ books and seeing if they help you retain the information better. I know you won't like the idea of spending more money after paying out so much but sometimes it smooths the way. I've had to do it before.

The biggest question you need to answer is - Am I actually enjoying studying the subject even though I'm having problems? If you are then stick with it, if not then look elsewhere. IT isn't the best vocation for everyone.

 

if I recall advent use Meyers All In One, they have reprint rights and print it into two books for the 601 and 602.

The copies i saw were the same as the AIO, however, the old advent materials were horrible, perhaps he has those?

Generally the advent package as i understand is A+ to MCSE and consists of books (AIO and MSPress), workshops, practice exams (transcender) , mock exams (Kaplan?) , exams, retakes, email support and day/evening phone support. They generally help with CVs, forward vacancies to apply for and sometimes can offer work placements.

I have known people that have successfully gained a job through them and many that haven't.

As for a refund? i doubt it after all this time.